Plein air painting and sketching at St. Mary's College

It was a bit cloudy and chilly, but our group of artists enjoyed painting and sketching on the St. Mary's College campus in Moraga. Here are some works in progress...check the Activities page here on the blog and join us at one of our next plein air excursions.

May Mini Art Show

1st Place - ATC Box by Catherine Hensiek (mixed media)

2nd Place - Freshly Picked for You by Betty McBride (watercolor)

3rd Place - View from Carquinez Strait Drive  (acrylic)

Untitled by Mary Frances Crabtree  (oil)

For the Love of Trees by Amy Eikner  (acrylic)

The Abyss by Lisa Fulmer  (acrylic)

April Mini Art Show

1st Place:  Crocket Street by Cathy McNutt  (acrylic)

2nd Place:  Tulip Magnolia by Sharon Petersen  (watercolor)

3rd Place:  Moonlit Path by Lisa Fulmer  (acrylic)

In Progress by Pat Calabro  (acrylic)

Jess and Chuck's Garden by Renaye Johnson  (acrylic)

Glacier Stream by Karen Nakkerud  (oil)

May meeting with Mark Jezierny this Saturday!

We're meeting on a Saturday in May - not Tuesday! Join us on Saturday, May 6th at the Concord Library (1-3pm) for our general meeting - the public is welcome.

Mark Jezierny will demonstrate oil painting techniques - he's a crowd favorite! Mark received a BA in Liberal Arts from Saint Mary’s College, then got his Masters of Fine Arts Degree in painting from the San Francisco Art Institute.

"Mark paints primarily in acrylics or oils on canvas. His paintings of Northern California landscapes, buildings and industrial scenes are done with both brush and/or palette knife. He creates an impressionistic style with an approach that is unconventional yet boldly realistic. He uses color to convey mood, atmosphere and perspective with an energy that depicts the overall spirit of the subject matter. Texture and shading are effectively used to emphasize the form, density and richness of natural and man made objects."  —Walter Mast, artist

Mark teaches for the Mount Diablo Adult Education program and he offers small group plein air painting classes, as well as private art lessons. 

If you missed our Spring Art Show...

Top row:  Pat Viera, Luciano Roque, Caroline Gomes
Middle row:  Manon Jodoin, Ambrozya Dae, Liz Roberts
Bottom row:  Rashmi Rajesh, Donna Langner & Deena Sheranko, Laurie Mansur

...then you missed a lot! Seventeen artists had work to sell - original art, prints, cards, handmade crafts and more. It was a perfect day to gaze at beautiful art and shop for unique gifts and home décor.

Clockwise from top left: Luciano Roque, Pat Viera, Rashmi Rajesh, Manon Jodoin, John Nicolini

Several of our artists also donated their work for our prize drawings - proceeds go to our fundraising efforts to open a nonprofit community art center and artists' co-op gallery. We'd are so grateful for the generosity of these artists above, as well as Catherine & Bill Hensiek, Cathy Hanson, and the Bridges Salon.

Thanks to all the pasta lovers!

Nearly 60 of us basked together in the warm glow of The Old Spaghetti Factory's private dining room in downtown Concord. We drank wine, ate lotsa pasta and shared our collective love of the growing arts scene here. Thanks to everyone who came out to support - this fundraiser got us even closer to our goal so we can open a nonprofit community art center and artists' co-op gallery soon!

Fish prints!

CAA members try fish printing

Now who doesn't love a good fish printing party? At our April meeting, Ronna Leon shared loads of great information about all the different types of printmaking - her knowledge is very inspiring.

Ronna's sample plates and prints

After Ronna's presentation, she brought out her school of silicone fishies and we got to play. After brushing each fish with acrylic inks and paints, we pressed thin paper on top to make a print.

April meeting - printmaking with Ronna Leon

Our guest artist for the meeting on April 11th is Ronna Leon, who currently runs the printmaking workshop for Arts Benicia. She teaches etching, collagraphy, woodblock and monotype printing, as well as photo transfer and other mixed media techniques. Ronna has worked as a printmaker since the 1970’s and her work has appeared in numerous small shows both in the US and abroad.

In her presentation on Fine Art Printmaking, she'll share examples of many of the forms modern fine art prints take, as well as the plates and tools used to make them. After her lecture, you can try your hand at creating a small gel plate print.

CAA members and the public are welcome - join us at the Concord Library on Tuesday, April 11th at 1pm. Bring your latest work to display in our mini art show - and if you have surplus art/craft supplies you'd like to donate (new or gently used) for our artist flea market fundraising, bring those along too!

March Mini Art Show

1st place:  Crue by Manon Jodoin - watercolor

2nd place:  Napa Vineyard by Bev Kenyon - watercolor

3rd place:  Universal by Lorri Marie Jenkins - mixed media

Women's March by Pat Calabro - acrylic

Art Show by Cathy McNutt - acrylic

Boats by Lupe Jimeno - watercolor

Patsy's View by Renaye Johnson - acrylic

Riding Shotgun by Saundra Lyle - charcoal

Making marks with Michaele Ignon

Michaele Ignon was our March guest speaker - she showed us how she uses a gel plate to create monoprints. She walked us through the materials and tools she likes to use, including hand-carved stencils, cut-outs for masking, styluses and stamps. We discovered lots of creative household items that make wonderful marks in the paint on the plate, like a slice from a long pool noodle or the round end of a chopstick.

After she demonstrated a few techniques, everyone got a chance to create their own monoprint design.

Michaele also introduced us to the idea of printing on deli wrap to create collage elements. Deli wrap for sandwiches, which you can get at the bigger cash & carry food stores, has the perfect weight, surface and transparency. It's right between tissue paper and wax paper.

Above is a pear she painted on a canvas, and below is the same pear after she collaged pieces of deli wrap that she printed with a variety of marks and colors. We loved how the torn papers blended right in to the canvas.

Click here to view or download more details from her presentation. Click here for her recipe to make your own gel plate, or you can find brand name gel plates at any art supply store.

Come to our Pasta Feed Fundraiser!

We are busy, busy, busy raising money so we can open our nonprofit artist co-op gallery this year! If you and yours come to our Pasta Feed on April 12 at The Old Spaghetti Factory, you'll have a great meal and help us get even closer to our goal!

Come early for no-host cocktails, and bring a few extra bucks for our fabulous prize drawings and art auction!

Our budget and business plan is ready, and once we've met our fundraising goal, we'll be able to find the perfect space to set up shop right here in Concord. Our gallery will be a wonderful place for artists to work, for shoppers to find beautiful things, for our members to help with charitable programs, and for the community-at-large to enjoy a wide variety of art and craft events and classes.

Visit our Activities page for more details and click the "Pay Now" button to RSVP and pay for your ticket via PayPal. You can also mail us a check if you prefer. Get your tickets soon, as space is limited! Click here to download our flyer.

We Heart Concord Art - and we heart YOU even more for supporting the arts here at home.

Come to our Spring Art Show & Sale!

Our annual Spring Art Show & Sale is on Saturday, April 29, 2017 at the Concord Library from 10am to 3:30pm. Bring the family, meet our artists, shop for gifts and enter to win some great prizes in our fundraiser drawings!

Take a FREE beginner's watercolor lesson with artist Mary Frances Crabtree during the show on the back patio, anytime between 1-3pm. Supplies are provided and the lessons are open to both kids and adults (children under 13 should be accompanied by an adult).

Download our flyer and save the date. Entrance is free, so come on down for some creative inspiration! Click here to see pictures from our 2016 Spring Show.

Mixed media monoprinting with Michaele Ignon

Join us on Tuesday, March 14, 2017 for our monthly meeting with our guest artist, Michaele Ignon. Michaele will demonstrate monoprinting using acrylic paints, collage, stencils, drawing implements and gel plates.

She will show us how to use layering, masks and stencils, patterns and textures to arrive at a complex and magical finish. The richness and experimentation that can be achieved with these methods will free you in many ways. You’ll learn how move beyond a critical or perfectionist technique and begin to play and experiment...it's a completely joyful process!

Michaele will provide kraft paper, paints and tools for us to work with, too.

In her own words...

In describing my work, I would say that it is gestural - and at the same time, I play with layering, texture and transparency, then repeat familiar forms. I love the effects these layering techniques give me. I work mostly in acrylic and often incorporate some collage. My initial execution is structured, but my process is guided by emotion and intuition more than from any conscious thought or plan. 

Adventure and experimentation tend to guide me, but fun should always be part of the equation. I strive to be a risk-taker in my work. I like working with vivid color and form, staining, stenciling and mark-making. Some of my favorite tools are water-soluble graphite, watercolor crayons, permanent markers, Sumi ink and collage materials.

Creating texture in watercolor paintings

This textural, abstract watercolor landscape is a composition of so many different techniques, which our member artist Manon Jodoin demonstrated for us in our February meeting.

Working on top of a sheet of glass or plexi, she wets both sides of her watercolor paper. The moisture helps to blend the colors and also keeps the paper flat so it doesn't move while she's painting.

Next she loosely brushes colors across the paper. Before she started, Manon had drawn a little flower in the corner with masking fluid as a resist.

Once her background colors are done (but still very wet), she randomly places small pieces of wax paper, which will change how the color dries underneath.

She adds a layer of medical gauze and brushes it down.

After brushing a tree trunk on the side, she sprinkles some rock salt near the top and lays wrinkled plastic wrap across the bottom.  Each technique adds unique texture to the background to mimic water, rocks, grass, etc. After leaving this to dry for several hours, she will gently peel all the wax paper, gauze and plastic away to reveal a very creative background - then she paints and scratches whatever she likes in the foreground. Beautiful!